Compare two Normal curves. In Exercise 1.99, we worked with the distribution of ISTEP scores on the English/language arts portion of the exam for tenth-graders. We used the fact that the distribution of scores for the 76,531 students who took the exam was approximately N(572, 51).

These students were classified in a variety of ways, and summary statistics were reported for these different subgroups. When classified by gender, the scores for the women are approximately N(579, 49), and the scores for the men are approximately N(565, 55). Figure 1.43 gives the Normal density curves for these two distributions.

Here is a possible description of these data:

women score about 14 points higher than men on the ISTEP English/language arts exam. Critically evaluate this statement and then write your own summary based on the distributions displayed in Figure 1.43.

400 450 500 550 600 650 700 750 FIGURE 1.43 Normal density curves for ISTEP scores of women and men, for Example 1.53.